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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Further Towards a More Integrated Coloring Process

A.) The Massachusetts Independent Comics Exposition is this weekend, and it's a ton of fun, and if you're in the Boston area you should stop by. It's at Lesley University in Porter Square in Cambridge. I had a blast year, and I think this year is going to be even better. And it's free! And there's an excellent sushi place right under the Exposition! But the sushi isn't free.

B.) Let's talk about color.

Last post I was talking about trying to develop a more active coloring technique, where the coloring is more of a part of the creative process as opposed to an afterthought.

This is another experiment with that in mind:

I started off with this pencil sketch that I did at Comicazi at their last drink and draw. While drawing this I was asked what I was working on, and I replied, "A drawing." Because deep down, I'm actually still a ten-year-old.

And it's definitely the ten-year-old that thought up the idea of diesel-powered guitar.

I followed the same process as with the photograph from the previous post. Creating a layer, then hiding it and creating a new layer to work on. I first did a layer of greens and yellows using the lasso tool.

Then a layer of more accurate colors using the polygon lasso tool.

Then some red lines.

Some dark blue.

Some light blue.

And then put it all together and play around with the opacities.

Final result? I don't know. Looking at all these layers separated, I find myself liking the individual parts more than when it is all put together. Also, looking at the final version I feel like it needs a layer of black linework over the top to really lock it into place. This can easily be done on the computer, but I'm pretty proficient with a nib, so it would seem silly not to do blacks with ink on paper. But if I do the blacks on paper, then I am right back where I started, and the coloring is an afterthought. But maybe it doesn't have to be. And maybe even if it is, that's okay.